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Microsoft said Sunday that the Chinese owner of social video app TikTok had chosen not to sell it TikTok’s U.S. assets. ByteDance is now in exclusive negotiations with Oracle over a stake in TikTok, sources close to the situation said.
The developments come two days before a deadline President Trump has insisted on over a deal. Trump has said TikTok would be banned in the U.S. if no deal is made by Sept. 15.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a blog post. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
An Oracle representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft said on Aug. 2 that it was in talks to buy TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Weeks later Walmart said it believed working with Microsoft on a possible TikTok deal could be positive for TikTok users and for regulators. A TikTok spokesperson denied that it was in talks to sell its U.S. branch to a competing video-sharing app, Triller. Bloomberg had reported that Triller was working on a bid in collaboration with Centricus Asset Management.
-- CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
www.cnbc.com
The developments come two days before a deadline President Trump has insisted on over a deal. Trump has said TikTok would be banned in the U.S. if no deal is made by Sept. 15.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a blog post. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
An Oracle representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft said on Aug. 2 that it was in talks to buy TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Weeks later Walmart said it believed working with Microsoft on a possible TikTok deal could be positive for TikTok users and for regulators. A TikTok spokesperson denied that it was in talks to sell its U.S. branch to a competing video-sharing app, Triller. Bloomberg had reported that Triller was working on a bid in collaboration with Centricus Asset Management.
-- CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Oracle stock surges after it confirms deal with TikTok-owner ByteDance
Microsoft announced that ByteDance has decided not to sell it TikTok's U.S. assets
